St.John

St.John

St-Stephen

St-Stephen

Address:

Church of Sts. John& Stephen Church
Periathalai
Tuticorin Dt
Pin : 628656.
Ph.No : 04639-254272.

Brief History:

During his ministry in the Pearl Fishery Coast, St. Xavier came to Periathalai several times. He was concerned about the welfare of the people of Periathalai; He taught them catechism and built a thatched church. Fr. Henri Antriquez who succeeded St. Xavier in the place of the old thatched church built a bigger church with clay and roofed that with palm leaves. This church had St. John as the patron saint. The Chiefton of Vijayapathi named Asiriya Perumal set fire to this church in 1597. But, it was rebuilt in 1603. Fr. John Pereira, a Jesuit Priest, who took charge of Periathalai as parish priest in 1635, laid foundation for a new church considering the growing population. For the new church which was completed in 1639, St. Stephen also was made as another patron saint. The ancient church began to deteriorate, People wanted to build a new church and Bishop Roche laid foundation for it. However, it took a long time before Fr. Dasan Dalmeida could actually start the work for the new church on the 13 th of November 1963 . This triangular shaped church was consecrated and inaugurated for worship by Bishop Ambrose on the day of the Pentecost, that is on the 14 th of May 1978 . The old church was totally destroyed and in that place is built a Wedding Hall.

Priests who served later:

Fr. Joseph Bensiger
Fr. Paneerselvam
Fr. Hermes Moduthagam
Fr. Theophilus
Fr. William (1991)
Fr. Jeya Jothi (1991)
Fr. Xavier George (1994)

Patron Saint : St. John and St. Stephen
Feast of the : Sunday after the feast of St. John

Side Chapels:

St. Antony’s Church (1958)
Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto (1912)
St. Therese of Child Jesus Grotto (1929)
St. Michael Grotto (1994)
St. George Grotto (1994)
St. Xavier’s Church (1998)

Location